As Christians we are to be known as people characterized by calmness, peace, love, and unity. However, there are times when we have to fight.
Nehemiah in chapter four has been warned ten times his enemies Sanballat and Tobiah are coming to attack him so the work on the wall will cease. We have already seen his responses to this.
- He asked the Lord for help
- He put guards in place
- And he temporarily ended the work on the wall so the people could rest, and prepare themslves
Now Nehemiah puts the people into battle positions, and encourages them to fight with confidence. This confidence is found in the fact that God is majestic (awesome), and they are fighting for their families.
The important thing to remember is Nehemiah didn’t try to fight right away. When Sanballat and Tobiah tried told lies about him he just kept working (2:19-20). When they mocked him, he responded with prayer instead of violence (4:1-5) and intensified work (4:6). When they threatened attack he took necessary precautions (4:7-13). Now as a last resort, Nehemiah was prepared to fight.
The reason why Nehemiah decided to fight was because he knew that the wall around Jerusalem was something worth fighting for.
In the same way we don’t fight about everything, but there are definitely some things worth fighting for
- The Gospel of Christ
- Correct Doctrinal beliefs
- Spiritual maturity within the local Church
- Unity of the Church
- And Holiness of Believers
There are others that can be added to this list, but you get the idea
Now when we fight as Christians it still shouldn’t be done in violence or anger of course. Instead we fight by boldly proclaiming Gods Truth faithfully, often when very few are doing it. We also fight by not giving up on the Lords work when things are hard.
The fact that Biblical truth is worth fighting for has always been important, but perhaps never more important than today.
We are seeing in Nations around the world a complete rejection of God’s standards. This has not happened overnight, but it came slowly through subtle changes that were hard to recognize before it was too late. There were opportunities for Christians to stand up and fight when God’s truth was compromised, but sadly few did. So many battles were lost because Christians refused to fight.
Brothers and sisters it is time for sharpen our swords, put on our armor, and go to war. Because it we don’t fight soon, there will be little worth fighting for.
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